Polish rod hanger and rotator



April 21, 1942 R. c. JOHNSTON 2,280,408

POLISH ROD HANGER' AND ROTATOR Filed Feb. e, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 1 fa l441 R. C. JOHNSTON POLISH ROD HANGER AND ROTA'TOR Filed Feb. Ve, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F 7| 6/ 54 m 4 lh /f I "/3 29, E

f@ Gr 62 I 442 73 74 l. .if a l 70 L, e 1;; 6a I v 6,9' 67 65 @055er C Patented Apr. 21, 1942 UNITED. sTATEs'e'rENr OFFICE rousn ROD HANGER AND no'rA'roR Robert C. Johnston, Tyler, VTex. Application February 6, 1940, serial No. 317,548

12 claims. (C1. 25a- 14) This invention relates to oil well production equipment and particularly pertains to Polish rod hangers of the type shown in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,122,944 issued to me July 5,` 1938.

In the use of polish rod hangers it is desirable to provide a gripping structure for the polish rod of the well pump whereby the rod may have some latitude or movement with relation to the hanger both horizontally and vertically in order to accommodate lack of precision in lateral alignment of the rod hanger during its movement with relation to the polish rod itself, and in order to make it possible for the polish rod hanger to adjust itself automatically with relation to the polish rod when, for any reason, the

stroke of the polish rod may be shortened. This last named condition may occur when the working barrel has received an objectionable accumulation of silt and sand which would prevent the piston of the pump from pursuing a full` stroke. It is the object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a polish rod hanger having means for automatically gripping the polish rod without the use of any rigid attaching means, and which will flexibly hold the polish rod in a manner to permit the rod to automatically adjust itself to conditions in the Well which might tend to cause variation in the stroke of the rod, rotation of the rod and misalignment thereof, the

structure thereby eliminating the tendency for i the pump rod to buckle or for it to be placed .under undue bending torsional or longitudinal strains, thereby minimizing the wear on the rod parts as well as the hanger, and at the same time insuring that undue stresses and strains will not be imparted to the working barrel piston and the Working barrel, and by which excessive Wear might take place in the working barrel parts.

It is another object of the invention to provide means associated with the polish rod and its hanger whereby the rod will be given positive rotational movement on each stroke of the rod, said movement representing an increment of the circumference of the rod whereby wear will be eliminated at any one point in the rod, and such wear and binding which might be imposed upon the rod will be distributed uniformly therearound.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a rod hanger adapted to be supported by the reins of a pump jack, said hanger being provided with means for gripping a polish rod on the up-stroke of the hanger and for automatically releasing the polish rod when the ,downward movement of the hanger is in excess of the possible stroke of the polish rod, the structure also embodying provisions whereby the gripping means may have free rotational action, thus eliminating torsional strain in the polish rod and in the pump rods and adjustable lateral movement to accommodate misalignment of the polish rod and the pump rods, the structure furthermore embodying means whereby the polish rod will be positively rotated incident to the pumping operation.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view indicating a pump jack, the rod hanger structure and a pumping device in a well casing and discloses the application of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a View in central vertical section showing the details of construction of the rod hanger.

Fig. 3 is a View in plan showing the rod structure and indicating the arrangement of the lock nut for holding the slips.

Fig. 4 is a View in side elevation showing the assembled hanger and the elements of the reins supporting the same.

Fig. 5 is a View in side elevation showing the rock plate disposed beneath the slips.

Fig. 6 is a view in plan showing the under face of the rock plate and the rocker seats there- Fig. I is a view in plan showing the rocker bars for the rocker plate seats.

Fig. 8 is a view in side elevation showing the rotating element assembly for rotating the polish rod.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 5 indicates a Samson post of a pump jack, which supports a walking beam Ii. The walking beam is oscillated by a pitman rod I connected with the driving disc 8 of a pump unit 9. The numeral I0 indicates the bearing portions of the reins Il by which the pump jack is operatively connected With the structure with which the present invention is concerned. Supported between the bearing members I0 and suspended therefrom is a rod hanger I2 with which the present invention is particularly concerned. Extending through the rod hanger, as indicated in solid lines in Fig. 3 and dotted` lines in Fig. 1, is a polish rod I3. It is understood that the polish rod I3 is connected to the upper end of a string 0f pump rods I3. The lower end of the string of pump rods connects with a reciprocating piston moving in a pump working barrel, the details of construction of which are of common knowledge in the oil industry,

In the operation of reciprocating pump mechanism used in oil wells it often occurs that an accumulation of sand and silt takes place in the bottom of the working barrel which would prevent the piston from moving to the lower end of its stroke. In usual pumping structures the polish rod is rigidly connected at its upper end to a crosshead or rein structure so that in the event of accumulation of material in the lower end, which would shorten the effective stroke of the pump rod, there would be a tendency lfor the rod to buckle. In my U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,122,944 slip means were provided to make it possible for the rod hanger to automatically adapt itself to rod conditions and to compensate for diierences between the pumping stroke of the rod hanger and the actual pumping movement of the pump rod. Such a structure is embodied in the present invention with additional improvements, including means for rotating the pump and polish rods automatically.

The slips are here indicated at I4 in Fig. 2 of the drawings. These slips may be of any desired number and have inner serrated faces I5 and outer tapered back portions le, a crosssection of which slips is arcuate. The slips are yieldably urged toward their innermost position by an annular spring clip I7 which is inthe form of a split spring ring fitting within an arcuate groove I8 formed in the outer face I6 of each of the slips. The slips are mounted within a slip bowl I9 which has a frusto-conical inner face 2U against which the outer arcuate faces I6 of the slips rest and along which they may move toward a gripping position. The bowl is formed with an annular seat 2 I around its lower end to receive a ball or roller race 22.. A set of ball or roller bearings 23 are interposed between the race 22 and a lower race 24, thus providing an anti-friction thrust bearing for the lower end of the bowl. The lower race in turn rests upon a rock plate 25. This rock plate is an annular member having a central opening 26 through it and being formed with a shoulder 2l to receive the lower race 24. The inner diameters of the bearing races 22i and 24 are. such as to insure that tubular centering extensions 23 and 29 will occur upon the contiguous ends of the bowl It and the rock plate 25. As indicated in Fig; 5 of the drawings, the lower face of the rocli plate is formed in two converging planes 38 and 3|. These planes converge along the equatorial center line of the plate, as indicated at 32. Thus, the plate is free to rock laterally of the center line. In order to facilitate in this rocking motion rocker seats 33 are formed as semi-cylindrical indentations in the lower face of the rock plate and with their centers in register withfthe center line 32. The rocker plate seats 33 rest upon the rocker bars 34. As shown in Fig. '7, these bars are an integral part of end wall 43 of a cylindrical rod hanger housing 44. The central axes of rocker bars 34 are inthe same vertical plane with the axes of trunnions 5I and 62. The housing 44 has a cylindrical center bore 45 within which the rod slip assembly previously described is housed. The end wall of thehousing has a central bore 4I. The bore 4I is through a tubular part of the housing 44 extending up- Ward to make a channel face 40 to hold lubricants for rocker seats 33 and rocker bars 34. The upper end of the slip bowl I9 is internally threaded at 46 and receives a slip lock nut 41 'which prevents the retraction of the slips` I4 from the bowl. This lock nut has a central opening 48 therein to accommodate the polish rod I3 and has an annular spheroidal face 49 against which annular spheroidal face 50 of a housing cover 54 rests. The housing cover 54 is threaded into the top of the housing 44 with threads 55 and has a downwardly projecting cylindrical length 56 which is longitudinally adjustable by the threads 55. This will provide clearance between the annular spherodal faces 49 and 5t. This will permit rocking of the slip unit on rockers 34 and also rotation of the slip bowl I9.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2* of the drawings, an enlarged bore 5l extends through the length of the cap 54 and thus provides sufficient clearance for the polish rod I3, which is of smaller diameter. This also makes it possible for the housing cover 54 to be conveniently screwed into position. The housing cover 54 may be held in a locked position by a set screw (not shown) which extends through the wall of the housing and engages the threaded portion 55 of the cover. In order to facilitate in rotating the retaining nut 4T and housing cover 54, these members are provided with cored holes to receive a Spanner wrench.

The housing 44 is provided at a point near its upper end with a pair of trunnions 6I and 62 which are embraced by the bearings on elements It. By this arrangement the housing is free to rock around a horizontal axis as supported by the reins and the moving parts of the pump jack.

It has been found desirable in the operation of the invention to rotate the polish rod and the pump rods suspended thereon incident to the pumping operation. This insures that any wear imposed upon the pump rods will be uniformly distributed around the circumference of the structure and that there will not be the probability of binding or wear at any one point. This prevents at spots from being worn on the rods and also keeps the rod joints screwed tight. The means for accomplishing this result is indicated in Figs. 1 and 8. Here it will be seen that a ratchet plate is fastened upon the polish rod I3 directly beneath the housing structure 44. The ratchet plate is made in two halves and is formed with hub sections t5 which may be placed in an embracing position around the polish rod and there gripped by bolts E?. Radially disposed ratchet teeth 68 are cut in the upper face of the ratchet disc and are engaged by a rotator pawl t9 and a lock dog "I0, The rotating pawl is mounted on a horizontally extending pin II carried upon a lug 72. The lug 'I2 is in the form of a short lever arm formed integral with a cantilever bar I3 with which it is disposed at right angles. The cantilever bar is mounted upon a horizontally disposed pivot pin Z4 extending radially from the side of the housing 44 of the hanger and adjacent the lower end thereof. The cantilever bar I3 extends horizontally and at its outer free end is connected with an operating cable I5 which leads vertically to a connection l5 on the walking beam 6 and on the end of the walking beam adjacent to the reinsI I. The lock dog is a pawl-shaped member free to rotate on the pivot 'I4 and held in its lowermost position by gravity. This pawl prevents reverse rotation of the ratchet disc 65 while the locking dog 69 is moving ahead and rotating the ratchet disc S5 and the polish rod I3.

In operation of the present invention the rod hanger is assembled as shown in Fig. l of the `drawingsand is suspended upon the reins I0.

The polish rod I3 extends through the rod hanger but is in nowise permanently fastened to the hanger housing. When the pumping mechanism is on its up-stroke the teeth I5 of the slips I4 will engage the outer surface of the polish rod and cause the polish rod to be lifted with the hanger as though it were fastened thereto. During this lifting operation the slips I4 will tend to wedge downwardly along the faces of the bowl I9 and will be yieldably held against the rod by the springring Il. 'Ihe weight of the rods will thus .be imposed upon the slips and they in turn will be supported by the bowl. The bowl rests upon the anti-friction thrust bearing comprising the bearing races 22 and 24 and the rollers 23. Thus, the -bowl with the slips gripped therein is free to rotate around the longitudinal axis of the polish rod, thus eliminating any possibility for holding the rod against rotation which would set up torsional strains in the rod and might cause a fracture of the pump rod at some point in its length or the unscrewing of a rod joint. By the arrangement here disclosed there will be no resistance to rotation, thus permitting the entire pump rod structure to freely rotate if desired. In the event that the rod hanger moves out of alignment with the rectilinear path of travel of the rod there is a tendency for the rod to be placed under bending strain. In the present case this is obviated to a desired extent by the rocking plate 25 resting upon the rocker bars 34.

In assembling the device the rocker plate 25 has been set in the bottom of the housing 44 with seats 33 resting on the rocker bars 34. Thus, as the hanger moves up and down and tends-to swing around the axis of the trunnions 6I and 62 any misalignment .between the polish rod I3 and the hanger would cause relative movement of these members in a plane at right -angles to that of the pivotal axis of the trunnions and the equatorial plane of the rocker bars 34. This equatorial plane, as previously described, is also occupied by the equatorial line 32 dividing the two plane faces 30 and 3I of the rock plate 25. As a result the rock plate 25 may rock on the rocker bars 34 to permit the bowll and the slips to swing in accord with the relative swinging movement occurring between the rod I3 and the hanger structure. This swinging will cause the slip -bowl assembly to move its arcuate face 49 in the plane with the arcuate face 50 of the housing cover retaining member 54, it lbeing understood that this arcuate lface is struck from a point represented by the intersection of the longitudinal center line of the rocker bars 34 and the plane in which the centers of the rockers 34 lie.

It will be evident that a lubricant may be placed in or on the surface 49 and 50 so that the moving faces of the members may be lubricated. It is also to be understood that the channel 40 formed in the upper face of the .bottom plate of housing 44 can .be filled with lubricant so that the rocker 4bars 34 may be sufficiently lubricated.

On the down strokeof the pump mechanism it may occur that the pump rod and the polish rod I3 may not be free to move downwardly la distance represented .by the downward movement of the hanger, in which event the hanger will move downwardly over the polish rod I3 since the slips I4 will tend to move upwardly as yieldably resisted by the spring I7. When the polish rod hanger changes the direction of its travel and begins to move upwardly the slips will -grip the polish rod I3 again and lift the rod.

As previously explained, it is desirable to cause the polish rod to rotate as it reciprocates. This is done automatically. The walking beam oscillates vertically and in doing so reciprocates the polish rod. 'The reins II .are connected to the upper forward edge of the walking beams 6 and the cable l5 is connected beneath the walking beam and at a point materially removed from the end of the beam and toward the Samson post. Thus, as the end of the walking beam connected to the polish rod swings downwardly it describes a larger arc than the arc described by the cable support, with the result that the member 'I3 will be drawn upwardly at its outer end and will swing in the direction of the arrow a indicated in Fig. 8. This will cause the lug 'I2 to swing in the direction of the arrow b and move the rotator pawl 69 in the direction of the arrow c, with the result that the end point of the pawl 69 will engage the teeth 68 on the ratchet disc 65 and force this disc to rotate. During this movement the point of the lock dog I0 will ride over the ratchet teeth and will remain in engagement with one of the ratchet teeth when the pawl 69 has reached the end of its stroke. This takes place when the polish rod hanger is at the lower end of its stroke. It will ybe recognized that the polish rod hanger is free to rotate in View of the .fact that the polish rod is mounted within the slip unit and that the slip unit is free to rotate. When the polish rod hanger moves toward its uppermost position the reins II and the cable I5 will readjust themselves, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. During `such readjustment the member 'I3 will swing downwardly by gravity in a direction opposite to the direction of the arrow a. This will swing `the lug 'I2 to its original position and will draw well las the spacing of the reins II from thev cable 'I5 will determine the length of stroke of the pawl so that as the pawl moves to a new position upon each reciprocation of the polish rod it will ride over a -predetermined number of ratchet teeth. This will insure that the pawl will cause the ratchet disc 65 to` be rotated a predetermined degree at each reciprocation of the polish rod and on the down-stroke thereof. By reason of the pawl -arrangement with the ratchet disc the Ipolish -rodl will always be free to rotate in the feeding direction of the pawl 69.

It will thus be seen that the rod hanger structure here disclosed provides simple means for gripping and moving a polish rod and the pump rods associated therewith, and that it is not only possible for the rod hanger to automatically adjust itself in proper gripping relation to the polish rod but also will permit free rotation of the polish rod and relative lateral movement between the polish rod and the rod hanger whereby lateral stress and strain is eliminated. It will also be recognized that due to the mounting of the polish rod, whereby it may freely rotate and also may be positively rotated, that the polish rod will not wear ilat in any one position and all of its joints will be maintained in a tightly screwed position.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it will be understood that various changes may be made in combination, construction, and arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a pump polish rod, a hanger having reciprocating movement, said hanger including a housing, means carried thereby for engaging the polish rod on the up-stroke of the hanger to cause the rod' and hanger to move in unison, and means interposed between the engaging means and the housing for permitting relative lateral movement between the engaging means and the housing whereby the longitudinal axis of the polish rod may move laterally with relation to the longitudinal axis of the hanger.

2. In combination with a pump polish rod, a hanger having reciprocating movement, said hanger including a housing, means carried thereby for engaging the polish rod on the up-stroke of the hanger to cause the rod and hanger to move in unison, means interposed between the engaging means and the housing for permitting relative lateral movement between the engaging f means and the housing whereby the longitudinal axis of the polish rod may move laterally with relation to the longitudinal axis of the hanger, and anti-friction means rotatably supporting the engaging means.

3. In combination with a polish rod, a hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping mechanism, said hanger being supported to swing upon a horizontal axis, a housing for the hanger through which the polish rod extends, gripping means within the housing for engaging the polish rod and causing it to move in unison with the hanger, and cooperating means with the gripping means whereby the gripping means may oscillate at right angles to the horizontal axis of the hanger to permit relative swinging movement between the hanger and the polish rod while it is gripped.

4. In combination with a polish rod, a hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping'mechanism, said hanger being supported to swing upon a horizontal axis, a housing for the hanger through which the polish rod eX- tends, gripping means within the housing for engaging the polish rod and causing it to move in unison with the hanger, cooperating means with the gripping means whereby the gripping means may oscillate at right angles to the horizontal axis of the hanger to permit relative swinging movement between the hanger and the polish rod while it is gripped, and anti-friction bearing means included within the structure of the oscillating means.

5. In combination with a polish rod, a hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping mechanism, said hanger being supported to swing upon a horizontal axis, a housing for the hanger through which the polish rod extends, gripping means within the housing for engaging the polish rod and causing it to move in unison with the hanger, cooperating means with the gripping means whereby the gripping means may oscillate at'right angles to the horizontal axis of the hanger to permit relative swinging movement between the hanger and the aasofios4 polish rod while it is gripped, anti-friction bearing means included within the structure of the oscillating means, and retaining means for the gripping means, said retaining means acting to guide the gripping means in its oscillation.

6. In combination with a polish rod, a hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping mechanism, said hanger being supported to swing upon a horizontal axis, a housing for the hanger through which the polish rod extends, gripping means within the housing for engaging the polish rod and causing it to move in unison with the hanger, cooperating means with the gripping means whereby the gripping means may oscillate at right angles to the horizontal axis of the hanger to permit relative swinging movement between the hanger and the polish rod while it is gripped, anti-friction bearing means included Within the structure of the csoillatinU means, retaining means for the gripping means, said retaining means acting to guide the gripping means in its oscillation, and antifriction bearing means permitting free rotation of the gripping means within the housing.

'7. In combination with a pump polish rod, a rod hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping mechanism, said hanger including a housing, trunnions carried by the housing to provide support for the housing by the pumping means and to provide a horizontal pivot for the housing, a slip structure within the housing including a bowl mounted loosely within the housing, means supporting the bowl to permit the bowl to move laterally of the longitudinal of the housing while supported by the housing, and slip members carried by the bowl to engage the pump polish rod and to causeit to more with the bowl.

In combination with a pump polish rod, a rod hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping mechanism, said hanger including a housing, trunnions carried by the housing to provide support for the housing by the pumping means and to provide a horizontal pivot for the housing, a slip structure within the housing including a bowl mounted loosely within the housing, means supporting the bowl to permit the bowl to move laterally ci' the longitudinal axis of the housing while supported by the housing, and slip members carried by the bowl to engage the pump polish rod and to cause it to move with the bowl, said slip members having longitudinally tapered back faces fitting into a correspondingly tapered seat in the bowl.

9. In combination with a pump polish rod, a rod hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pinnping mechanism, said hanger including a housing, trunnions carried by the housing to provide support ior the housing by the pumping means and to provide a horizontal pivot for the housing, a slip structure 'within the housing including a bowl mounted loosely within the housing, means supporting the bowl 'to permit the bowl to move laterally of the longitudinal axis ci the housing while supported by the housing, slip members carried by the bowl to engage the pump polish rod and to cause it to move with the bowl, said slip members having longitudinally tapered back faces fitting into a correspondingiy tapered seat in the bowl, and means yieldably holding 'the slip members in their innermost position.

l). In combination with a pump polish rod, a rod hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping mechanism, said hanger including a housing, trunnions carried the housing to provide support for the housing by the pumping means and to provide a horizontal pivot for the housing, a slip structure within the housing including a bowl mounted loosely within the housing, means `supporting the bowl to permit the bowl to move laterally of the longitudinal axis of the housing while supported by the housing, slip members carried by the bowl to engage the pump polish rod and to cause it to move with the bowl, said slip members having longitudinally tapered back faces tting into a correspondingly tapered seat in the bowl, means yieldably holding the slip members in their innermost position, and retaining meansk at the upper end of the bowl acting to limit the upward movement ofthe slips within the bowl.

l1. In combination with a pump polish rod, a rod hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping mechanism, said hanger including a housing, trunnions carried by the housing to provide support for the housing by the pumping means and to provide a horizontal pivot for the housing, a slip structure within the housing including a bowl mounted loosely within the housing, means supporting the bowl to permit the bowl to move laterally of the longitudinal axis of the housing while supported by the housing, slip members carried by the bowl to engage the pump polish rod and to cause it to move with the bowl, said slip members having longitudinally tapered back faces fitting into a correspondingly tapered seat in the bowl, means yieldably holding the slip members in their innermost position, retaining means at the upper end of the bowl acting to limit the upward movement of the slips within the bowl, and cooperating means between the housing and the retaining member acting to hold the bowl structure in its seated position while permitting relative lateral movement between the bowl structure and the housing.

l2. In combination with a pump polish rod, a rod hanger by which the polish rod is operatively connected to a pumping mechanism, said hanger including a housing, trunnions carried by the housing to provide support for the housing by the pumping means and to provide a horizontal pivot for the housing, a slip structure within the housing including a bowl mounted loosely within the housing, means supporting the bowl to permit the bowl to move laterally of the longitudinal axis of the housing while supported by the housing, slip members carried by the bowl to engage the pump polish rod and to cause it to move with the bowl, said slip members having longitudinally tapered back faces tting into a correspondingly tapered seat in the bowl, means yieldably holding the slip members in their innermost position, retaining means at the upper end of the bowl acting to limit the upward movement of the slips within the bowl. cooperating means between the housing and retaining member acting to hold the bowl structure in its seated position while permitting relative lateral movement between the bowl structure and the housing, and` anti-friction means for supporting the bowl while permitting its free rotation around its central axis.

ROBERT C; JOHNSTON. 

